In the first address of his second tenure, US President Obama said he will withdraw 34,000 troops from Afghanistan this year. But he obviously does not intend to get all the US troops back home because about 32,000 US troops will still be stationed there. Let's call it the start of a new garrison instead of the end of the war, says an article in the Shanghai-based Jiefang Daily. Excerpts:

The United States spent more than $300 billion and sacrificed more than 2,000 lives in the Afghanistan War. Drawing lessons from Iraq, the US chose to occupy the country.

The US offered to help train the Afghan army to fight the terrorists and intends to turn the new regime into an ally.

Afghanistan occupies a very important geopolitical position. If the US controls Afghanistan, it has the crossroads of Asia in its hands.

Afghanistan also has rich natural resources such as gold, silver, bronze and iron ore as well as natural gas and oil. Because of the long-term warfare, most of the mines are untapped until now, making it one of the virgin lands in today’s world.

But how long the US can stay in the country remains to be seen. No foreign power has yet occupied the country for long in history. Both the United Kingdom and the former Soviet Union failed. The US will try it for the third time in recent history.